


From: NCT Paper Stocks, Inc.

by sichenqie



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Office, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, Multi, Pranks, Sexual innuendos, Some angst, it's nothing scandalous tbh, somewhat crack tbh
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-18
Updated: 2018-10-25
Packaged: 2019-08-03 20:21:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,006
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16332815
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sichenqie/pseuds/sichenqie
Summary: To:NCT Paper Stocks ListServSubject:BUSINESS MEMO: WELCOME!Good morning NCT Paper Stocks employee,Upper management would like to welcome you to your position at NCT Paper Stocks! Due to last year’s record-breaking 27 fire hazards, we would,especially,like to remind employees not to overcrowd outlets and refrain from microwaving metal. If you happen to see the resident cat lurking in our hallways, please notify security, and they will contact animal control immediately. That may or may not solve the problem, but we’ve been trying to catch that cat for 3 years now, and we’re not giving up!Lastly, please remember to respect your coworkers. Horseplay, such as pranks and miscellaneous drama, will not be tolerated. Due to last month’s “Paperclip Scandal”, where someone had replaced all artwork in the building with mock paperclip versions, please refrain from buying paperclips. Your production managers should be aware of this and accordingly distribute usable paperclips the interns have recovered from the dismantled artwork.We hope you find working here at NCT Paper Stocks a pleasure! Have a wonderful day!Sincerely,NCT Paper Stocks Upper Management





	1. professionalism

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by the tv show The Office, but I don't think I'm using like any of the plots from the show.

**To:** NCT Paper Stocks ListServ  
**Subject:** BUSINESS MEMO: PROFESSIONALISM

Good morning NCT Paper Stocks employee,

Upper management would like to remind all members of this company to be professional at all times. Please wear appropriate attire and speak professionally within your work setting. Treat your coworkers with respect and dignity. Pranks and malicious rumors will not be tolerated. Thank you.

Sincerely,  
NCT Paper Stocks Upper Management

* * *

“mark, what the fuck are you wearing?” taeyong asks, brows furrowed and already exasperated at 10:30am. he didn’t think he’d have to deal with the new employee wearing a chicken costume so early in the morning. this was usually something that happened in the evening.

“i lost a bet with renjun, and he said this was my punishment,” he answers, flapping his arms in the costume, feathers shedding and sticking to the carpet. jaemin, whose desk is quite near the break room where taeyong had just stopped mark, leans over his desk to listen in on the conversation. 

“no—change out of that,” taeyong says. “we have clients coming in today, and we—”

“the rules of the bet were that if i didn’t wear this costume i had to do a worse penalty—please, i can’t,” mark begs, pouts his lips. 

“what’s the other penalty?” 

“buying him cat food for a year—and i’m broke. like i literally have $269 in my bank account, so i can’t afford 500 bags of cat food. he has like 20 cats!”

“i would’ve expected at least 25,” yuta says as he walks by the two of them, eyes trained on the clipboard in his hands. in the back of taeyong’s mind, he suddenly remembers that it’s inventory day and wonders why everyone isn’t checking their desks for items and supplies. then again, their boss, taemin, hasn’t signed their shipment forms from two weeks ago, and he’s sure that he doesn’t come back from his unannounced vacation until tomorrow. 

“either way—take it off,” taeyong orders, rubbing his temple. “we really can’t have clients seeing you like this. and tell renjun he’s not allowed to have running bets in the office or we’ll revoke his internship.” 

taeyong’s walking away before mark can really say anything else. mark turns to jaemin for help, but jaemin just laughs and shrugs. “can’t help you. you lost the bet with renjun,” he says.

“well i didn’t expect him to seriously bet on how many grapes i could fit in my mouth. i swear, i usually can fit like 20!” 

“hey, taeyong,” haechan says as taeyong is about to walk into his office. “we have a new guy coming in today. he’s transfering from the incheon branch.” 

“this isn’t my department. human resources should be handling this. where’s kun?” taeyong asks.

“kun is busy dealing with lucas and jeno right now, and he said he’ll be busy until 4, but the new guy gets here in like… 10 minutes.” 

“what did lucas and jeno do?” he asks.

“lucas complained that jeno put a 5-hour energy drink in his coffee and now he won’t stop shaking,” haechan says, straight-faced as if it’s the most normal thing to happen in this office, and actually, it probably is.

“can’t someone else do this?” taeyong is clearly exasperated, and haechan would love to help him out, but he remembers that taeyong once ate haechan’s last snickers bar in the break room, and haechan saw him do it, and when he’d asked taeyong what happened to it, taeyong said that mark had eaten it, and maybe haechan is still a little salty about that. 

“it’s inventory day,” he says with a shrug. “everyone is doing inventory.”

he says this as taeyong turns to look at everyone at their desk. he can clearly see mark and jaemin still talking about the chicken costume; johnny is playing solitaire on his computer, which taeyong can see because his computer screen is reflected onto his fake glasses; and sicheng probably doesn’t even know what inventory means, so of course he’s just calculating totals for this month’s spendings and profits, which taeyong knows he’s going to have to triple check because sicheng doesn’t know that it’s inventory day! 

“fine,” taeyong finally mutters. “i’ll give him the tour. what’s his department?”

“accounting, so he can help sicheng actually read korean.” they both look at sicheng just as he sits up straight, stares at the two of them before going back to scribbling numbers. neither of them really know how he got into accounting, but at least the numbers come up right most of the time. 

taeyong almost turns to go into his office, get what little work done he can in less than ten minutes, when a thin man comes walking into the office, eyes beautifully-shaped and wide, jawline slim. “hi, i’m the transfer from the incheon branch,” he says to haechan. 

“cool—this is taeyong, our assistant manager,” haechan says, pointing to taeyong.

both taeyong and the transfer say “hi” at the same time, semi-awkwardly struggling with their handshake before they both pull away. 

“i was told to meet here with lee taemin?” the transfer says.

“oh, he’s on an impromptu vacation in dubai. taeyong will take care of you and give you a tour.” 

“yeah, sure—that’s fi—is that guy wearing a chicken costume?” the transfer interjects, points across the floor. 

taeyong turns his head to look, already shouting: “mark! i told you to change!”

“i did,” mark says back, sitting behind his desk in his usual suit. “jaemin paid me $400 for the chicken costume.” 

taeyong groans and rubs his temple. he doesn’t have time for this, but then again, he never has time for anything anymore other than these shenanigans. it’s amazing they ever sell anything in this company. 

“your office is a mess,” the transfer mutters. 

“yeah, i—”

“just show me where my desk is, and i’ll get to work,” the transfer says.

taeyong purses his lips, immediately hates the way that the transfer is so curt to him. “let me deal with the chicken first,” he mutters, headed toward jaemin like he’s going to rip his throat out, but the entire office knows that taeyong’s a kitten. 

once taeyong has finally convinced jaemin to get out of the chicken costume, he shows the transfer around the office.

“what’s your name, by the way? i didn’t catch it,” taeyong mentions.

“kim dongyoung. most people call me doyoung. it’s a nickname,” he says. 

“nice. well, let me introduce everyone very quickly. we have 16 other employees besides the two of us. haechan works as our receptionist up at front. most of the floor is made up of marketing and research and development. in the back we have finance and accounting, which is where you’ll work with sicheng, and human resources. our interns also work back there, and if they slack off, just let me know. purchasing and production are a little bit all over the place, but generally you can either find them working in human resource’s empty desk or downstairs. any questions?”

“yeah… that guy’s feeding a cat. are pets allowed in the building?”

taeyong turns to see jeno feeding the damn stray cat that plagues the building cat treats. “jeno! no!” he yells, running over to jeno, who shoos the cat away. 

“i’ll call animal control,” haechan says from his desk. it’s like clockwork, like they’ve predicted these things because they’ve happened so often. 

doyoung sits at his desk, exhales. “i have a feeling working here is going to be hell,” he mutters. 

“it’s not as bad as you think,” sicheng says, leaning back in his chair. “just make sure you pay jelly fees.”

“what fees?”

“jaemin comes to me every friday asking for jelly bears. it’s a fee.”

“for what?”

“...i don’t know actually.”


	2. communication

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter ended up turning out so much longer than i expected i hope you guys like it a;sldfkjk

**To:** NCT Paper Stocks ListServ  
**Subject:** BUSINESS MEMO: REMEMBER THAT WE HAVE OPEN COMMUNICATION POLICIES

Good morning NCT Paper Stocks employee,

Due to yesterday’s scandal of an employee mass emailing 207 individual photos of various cats they just “happened to really like,” we must address an issue with keeping communications professional. Upper management wanted to remind all departments that we have very open communication policies. Your business emails and instant messaging apps can be searched and read by anyone. Please do not send images or have conversations not suitable for work. Thank you.

Sincerely,  
NCT Paper Stocks Upper Management

* * *

_IM Chat: Lee Donghyuck, Mark_  
**donghyuck:** did you see the email?  
**mark:** what? no  
**mark:** hold on i have like 200+ emails from jeno that i haven’t opened  
**mark:** what the fuck  
**mark:** are these just all cats?  
**mark:** why did he send so many?  
**mark:** wait i see the email  
**mark:** oh  
**donghyuck:** btw are we still going to the movies on friday?  
**mark:** aren’t we supposed to not talk about this stuff rn?  
**donghyuck:** ten literally sends sexts during work from his work phone  
**mark:** you got a point

* * *

“you should delete those,” doyoung says to mark as he passes by him, eyes catching the glimpses of the cat photos. 

“i’m trying! there’s just so many. how did he find this many cat photos?” mark exclaims, mouse hovering over the delete button, also trying to find a mass delete button to try and get rid of all of the emails. 

“how did you manage to even get a job here?” jaehyun snorts as he rounds the corner of mark’s desk, perches himself on the corner and pinches mark’s ear affectionately.

“literally, taemin watched me struggle getting ketchup off my shirt for ten minutes straight and then just said, ‘you’re hired,’” mark says, exasperated and still clicking through all the emails to get rid of them. “are these jeno’s cats or something?”

“no one knows,” jaehyun says, pointing to a mass delete button for mark. “rumor has it that he kidnaps his neighbors’ cats.”

“he probably takes in a lot of strays,” doyoung says, sifting through his papers. “there’s that one cat around the office that just hangs around, and I literally watched him feed it. taeyong told me animal control has been in here six times and still hasn’t caught the damn thing.” 

“jeno probably helps it escape.” 

“it could escape without my help,” jeno says as he joins doyoung and jaehyun by mark’s desk. 

taeyong walks by, slows down as he stares at everyone who is just crowded around mark’s desk. “excuse me? what are all of you doing? taemin’s coming in today, and you’re all just standing around--get back to work!” he scolds as he walks into the break room. 

they all collectively groan, and doyoung rolls his eyes. he and sicheng walk with each other back to their desks, sicheng whispering something about how taeyong’s always cranky like this when taemin is gone. doyoung’s only five minutes into filling out everyone’s payroll forms (because they decided on his first day that sicheng shouldn’t handle those anymore) when sicheng curses in chinese. 

“what’s this say?” he asks doyoung, points to his computer screen.

“umm… email isn’t working,” doyoung says with a shrug, brows furrows and lips pursed as he turns to his own computer, clicks around on his own email to see if he’s having the same problem.

“EMAIL IS DOWN!” haechan screams from the front desk, as if that’s the only way to notify the office. 

“WHAT’S DOWN?” jaemin yells back, and it wouldn’t be crazy for him to shout considering he’s at the back of the office, but everyone knows he’s just being a little shit. 

“EMAIL!” haechan screams again, mark’s voice joining him late as an echo.

“WHAT ABOUT THE EMAIL?” renjun yells, giggling with jaemin as he passes by him.

doyoung rubs at his temples and just sits back in his chair, eyes the front door as a tall, thin man walks through. 

“how’s my office doing?” the man says, and by the way he smiles all smug and sweet, doyoung already knows it’s taemin without needing an introduction. 

“email’s down,” haechan says, gestures to taeyong frantically who’s just walked out of the conference room.

taeyong risks spilling coffee on his shirt as he half-sprint to taemin. “wehaveseveralpapersforyoutosign—” he says quickly.

taemin’s eyes are trained on taeyong’s coffee mug, plucks it right out of his hands and takes a sip. taeyong doesn’t even seem to bat an eyelash at the way taemin had just stolen his coffee. “email’s down. can’t do anything about it. guess i should go home—” taemin says.

“no! you need to sign these papers first, and we can call tech to resolve the issue. jaehyun! call tech right now!” taeyong orders, grabbing the files haechan left on the countertop for taeyong and taemin to discuss. 

“everyone, work on paper until emails come back!” taeyong says as he shoves taemin into taemin’s office to get the papers signed.

* * *

“so you… you handle this kind of stuff too?” jisung asks chenle. usually chenle just brings the mail and any packages they receive, but apparently his job description is much wider than jisung originally thought.

“yeah, really i’m just here to do jobs that don’t require much work. they said they might need someone to check wires in small places or hold a flashlight, so they told me to come with them,” he says, absently holding a flashlight for one of the IT workers to see the wires. “i’m surprised you’re still working here. i thought you were going to switch your internship to a different company.”

jisung had thought about it. there were other companies that offered more benefits and were willing to hire right off the bat once he finished the internship, plus there were already too many interns here what with him, jaemin, and jeno. to hire all three of them was a bit unlikely—but jisung had decided not to go simply because chenle made his day bearable. 

“yeah, i didn’t end up... umm… liking the building, i guess,” jisung lies, gives chenle a reassuring smile, and chenle gives one back--all teeth and gums. 

“i heard you guys got a new transfer,” chenle says. he doesn’t know much about their company or what they really do, but jisung really appreciates chenle for keeping up with the news and gossip. 

“it’s not that exciting. he’s really diligent and tidy. one day he kept walking past lucas’s desk, but every time he walked by he secretly tidied it.” 

chenle laughs, this high-pitched, squeaky sound that pierces the office silence, but jisung smiles, and they continue their conversation without worry.

* * *

haechan throws a crumpled piece of paper at the back of mark’s head. 

“what was that for?” mark hisses as he throws the paper back at haechan.

haechan catches it smoothly and throws it back at mark. “just read it!” he insists, goes back to scribbling on his notepad since the internet is down. 

mark opens the note, a small _hi :)_ written on it. 

“what is this?” mark asks, turns toward haechan again. 

“it’s a note.” 

“i get that it’s a note. but why?” 

“well the internet is down. how else am i supposed to secretly have conversations with you if not by instant messaging?” 

“we’re literally talking right now.”

haechan rolls his eyes and sighs. “fine, if you don’t wanna pass notes with me then don’t reply.” 

there’s silence between the two of them, but the sound of haechan clicking his pen starts to get under mark’s skin. somewhere in the office, johnny sneezes, and in another part of the office, mark is sure he hears chenle’s laugh. he must be talking to jisung. grabbing the note, mark scribbles down a sloppy, _friday we’re still going to the movies right?_ and he throws it over the counter and haechan. 

with a small smile that he tries to hide, haechan opens the note and reads it before writing his reply, _you thought my note idea was stupid. so no. change my mind._

when mark gets the note, he swerves around in his chair to give haechan an incredulous look, eyes wide and maybe a bit panicked, brows furrowed and definitely unsure of what to do. haechan just shrugs his shoulders and mouths, _you started this._

* * *

“is email back up yet?” taeyong asks johnny when he peeks out of taemin’s office for a brief moment. 

“no, but the tech guys said it’s almost done,” johnny says, rubbing at his eyes.

“did you stay late again yesterday?” taeyong asks, frowning when he notices the way johnny holds back a yawn.

“yeah. don’t worry about it,” johnny mutters. 

“that’s like the fifth time this month. you shouldn’t have to come in so late all the time.”

johnny just shrugs as doyoung comes up to taeyong.

“hey, i need to speak with taemin,” doyoung says. 

“no,” taeyong answers curtly. 

“what?”

“i’m trying to get taemin to sign these papers, and right now he’s on an unimportant phone call for some reason, but i can’t have him distracted.”

it’s decided. doyoung doesn’t like taeyong, and he presses his lips together in a thin line, frowning deeply. “right… i’ll catch him a different day then.” 

“good luck with that,” johnny scoffs.

* * *

“are the papers signed?” haechan asks when taeyong finally emerges from taemin’s office.

“yes,” taeyong breathes. “how’s the office doing out here?” 

“sicheng’s been to the bathroom twice. jaehyun has been playing minesweeper for the past hour and a half. jeno and renjun have been playing paper football for three hours. johnny fell asleep five times. and doyoung is the only one on this floor doing actual work.” 

“at least someone is,” taeyong mutters, rests his head on the counter of haechan’s desk for a moment. 

“go home. you’ve worked hard today,” haechan says, pats taeyong’s head. 

“yeah. i will. i’ll probably take a late day next week. there’s so much work i have to catch up on since i’ve been basically trying to do taemin’s job.” 

“you’re doing great. don’t worry. besides, doyoung can help you out. he’s really efficient.” 

taeyong rolls his eyes and groans. _what a kiss ass._

**Author's Note:**

> comments and kudos always appreciated! <3 thank you for reading! :)
> 
>  
> 
> [come yell about nct and other kpop groups w me](http://twitter.com/sichenqie)


End file.
